Stephen Hough made Honorary Fellow of the Guildhall School

The Guildhall School’s annual Graduation Day ceremonies took place on Friday 4 November in the majestic Great Hall of the City of London’s Guildhall, where the Class of 2016 were presented with their degree and diploma certificates and a distinguished list of honorands were made Fellows of the School.

 

The following were made Honorary Fellows of the Guildhall School (Honorary Fellowships are for distinguished figures in the wider performing arts world and those who have contributed to the success of the Guildhall School):

Christopher Bilsland (former Chamberlain of the City of London)

Stephen Hough CBE (Pianist and Composer)

Jude Kelly CBE (Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre)

Sir Antonio Pappano (Music Director of The Royal Opera)  - Sir Antonio Pappano gave an acceptance speech on behalf of the Honorands.

Sir Michael Snyder (former Chairman of Policy & Resources at the City of London)

Peter Young (former Chairman of the Guildhall School Trust)

 

Stephen Hough CBE

Stephen’s career spans the world with concert-giving regularly in the UK, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. He has performed with most major orchestras across the world and this summer he made his 25th concerto appearance at the BBC Proms.  He is a modern renaissance man, a polymath whose writings are as highly prized as his performances.

He is a published composer, reviving the great 19th century tradition of the pianist-composer, and has made more than 50 recordings, a number of them award winners. He has received numerous awards, is a CBE, was the first ever classical music artist to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, and has made a highly distinguished contribution to British musical life. A noted writer, Stephen regularly contributes articles for The Guardian, The Times, The Tablet, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and also had a blog in The Telegraph that became one of the most popular and influential forums for cultural discussion.

His book, The Bible as Prayer, was published by Continuum and Paulist Press in 2007. Stephen Hough resides in London where he is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester. He is also a member of the faculty at The Juilliard School.

 

Stephen appeared on the cover of Pianist issue 88. The issue is still available as a digital issue. 

 

Sir Antonio Pappano

Sir Antonio Pappano is Music Director of The Royal Opera, a position he has held since 2002. During his tenure he has conducted an extensive repertory, including works by Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Ravel, Berg, Shostakovich and Britten, as well as the world premieres of Birtwistle’s The Minotaur (2008) and Turnage’s Anna Nicole (2011), and works for The Royal Ballet.

Sir Antonio was born of Italian parents in London, where from an early age he played the piano for his father’s singing pupils. As a teenager he moved with his family to the USA. His love of opera and theatre was sparked when he worked as a répétiteur for New York City Opera aged 21. Sir Antonio made his conducting debut in Oslo in 1987 and his Covent Garden debut three years later. Aged 32, he was appointed Music Director of La Monnaie, Brussels, from where he joined The Royal Opera.

Sir Antonio has conducted symphonic repertory in the USA and Europe and is Music Director of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has made many recordings as both conductor and pianist. He has received many awards, including in 2016 the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal. In 2012 he was made Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana and received a knighthood.

 

Guildhall School Honorands 2016

The following were made Fellows of the Guildhall School (Fellowships are for distinguished staff, former staff and alumni of the Guildhall School):

Stuart Calder (Associate Producer, Guildhall School)

Janet Farmer (Opera Department Manager, Guildhall School)

Joy Farrall (Principal Clarinet with the Britten Sinfonia and Senior Tutor of Chamber Music, Guildhall School)

Professor Barry Ife CBE (Principal, Guildhall School)

Lily James (Actress and Guildhall School alumna)

Elizabeth Marcus (Vocal Coach, Guildhall School)

Derek Rodgers (former Head of Junior Guildhall)

Kate Royal (Singer and Guildhall School alumna)

 

 

Picture: Hough (left) and Pappano (right), pictured with Jonathan Vaughan, Vice-Principal and Director of Music at the School

© Clive Totman